beginning of the story? Would a description of the appearance of the
house, the barn, or the persons add to the interest aroused by the story?
Is it necessary to add anything to the story?


EXERCISE


In each of the following selections decide where the interest reaches its
climax. Has anything been said in the beginning of any of them which
suggests what the point will be, or which helps you to appreciate it when
you come to it?


1. The next evening our travelers encamped on a sand bar, or rather a
great bank of sand, that ran for miles along one side of the river. They
kept watch as usual, Leon taking the first turn. He seated himself on a
pile of sand and did his best to keep awake; but in about an hour after
the rest were asleep, he felt very drowsy and fell into a nap that lasted
nearly half an hour, and might have continued longer had he not slid down
the sand hill and tumbled over on his side. This awoke him. Feeling vexed
with himself, he rubbed his eyes and looked about to see if any creature
had ventured near. He first looked towards the woods, for of course that
was the direction from which the tigers would come; but he had scarcely
turned himself when he perceived a pair of eyes glancing at him from the
other side of the fire. Close to them another pair, then another and
another, until, having looked on every side, he saw himself surrounded by
a complete circle of glancing eyes. It is true they were small ones, and
some of the heads which he could see by the blaze were small. They were
not jaguars, but they had an ugly look. They looked like the heads of